Itinerant nature of U 5 states in uranium mononitride revealed by angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy

Fujimori, Shinichi   ; Okochi, Takuo*; Okane, Tetsuo  ; Saito, Yuji  ; Fujimori, Atsushi; Yamagami, Hiroshi; Haga, Yoshinori   ; Yamamoto, Etsuji  ; Onuki, Yoshichika

The electronic structure of the antiferromagnet uranium nitride (UN) has been studied by angle resolved photoelectron spectroscopy using soft X-rays. The band structure as well as the Fermi surfaces in the paramagnetic phase are well explained by the band-structure calculation treating all the U 5 electrons as being itinerant, suggesting that itinerant description of the U 5 states is appropriate for this compound. On the other hand, changes in the spectral function due to the antiferromagnetic transition were very small. The shapes of the Fermi surfaces in a paramagnetic phase are highly three-dimensional, and the nesting of Fermi surfaces is unlikely as the origin of the magnetic ordering.